27th Green Chile Festival at Chuy’s Tex-Mex

These past few weeks Chuy’s celebrated their 27th Annual Green Chile Festival where they celebrate the green chile harvest which takes place in Hatch, New Mexico.

This is where Chuy’s gets their peppers for this limited menu which focuses on the delicious yet flavorful chile. The tradition dates back to 1989 when the founders of Chuy’s traveled to New Mexico otherwise known as the “Chile Capital of the World” to find the perfect pepper for their restaurant.

Chuy’s was founded in 1982 by MIke Young and John Zapp and are committed to the freshest ingredients for their authentic Tex-Mex dishes, on our visit we met Chuy’s General Manager at the Wally-Park location, who informed us of their commitment towards keeping their ingredients fresh.

Everything is fresh and never frozen, ingredients are ordered almost daily everything from their tortillas which are made by hand, to the peppers which we tasted are all stored in their walk-in fridge. The only thing that is frozen at Chuy’s is their fries, which is stored in their only freezer which is the size of the typical freezers we have at home.

Nachos and Chuy’s Creamy Jalapeno Sauce

While we waited on our orders to come out we were given nachos with a side of Chuy’s Creamy Jalapeno Sauce which our very informative and entertaining waitress informed us, is nicknamed “crack sauce”.

Maybe it was me being significantly hungry or something but I figured out why this sauce is called “crack sauce”. The sauce is extremely and I say extremely delicious, you can’t just have one taste….or two … not even just three you need to have the whole bowl of sauce.

Typically with Tex-Mex establishments you are handed mediocre nachos, with mediocre canned salsa, with cheese-wiz nacho sauce, however the fresh that Chuy’s stands by is quite apparent from the nachos they make in house, to the salsa which is sweet and delicious, to the creamy jalapeno sauce which is bold, creamy, yet with a kick at the end that is sure to leave a nice yet satisfying tingly burn down your throat.

If Chuy’s made a drink out of their creamy jalapeno sauce I would be sure to drink it, preferably alcoholic of course.

The VIP Combo

We got the VIP Combo, which consist of both the “fat daddy enchilada” and a bacon wrapped pork relleno.

The enchilada was delicious, hearty, yet spicy with the green chile, however the intensity was very mild and I was able to enjoy this amazing dish.

The pork relleno was drizzled in their spicy creama sauce was just a tad spicier and definitely cleared my sinuses for sure.

On the side was their green chile rice, which help mellow out the intensity of the chiles, yet the rice was packed with flavor different notes of flavors that went well with their refried beans which definitely gave the whole dish it’s finishing touches and subsistence in my stomach.

Various dog pictures in the Chihuahua Bar

A very interesting part of the establishment is their Chihuahua Bar which has numerous pictures of dogs throughout this room which are submitted by their customers. I was informed that if you bring a framed picture of your dog you would get a free appetizer.

This really cool idea really brings the community feel to the restaurant and many of the dog pictures were very entertaining, many of the pictures contained dogs rather dressed up in funny costumes or doing funny things.

All in all Chuy’s would have to be at the top of my list that I have written about, a long time ago I used to drive by their Gainesville location when I frequented visited the town, little did I know that Chuy’s would be perhaps a favorite of mine later down the road.

Chuy’s with its charming decor, knowledgeable staff, always fresh ingredients and dishes will be a place I will frequent when I am in the mood for Tex-Mex…..I also took home two containers of crack sauce to which I am enjoying while I write this….

Chihuahua Bar PictureBig Daddy Enchilada

Customers are encouraged to join in on the fun by visiting their local Chuy’s Green Chile Festival merchandise booth for festival tees, free concert ear plugs and guitar picks.

They can also enter a chance to win free Chuy’s for a year by posting a picture of their favorite Green Chile Festival menu item to Instagram and tagging @chuysrestaurant with #GreenChileFest.

Kris Doan, born in Norfolk, VA raised in Orlando, FL grew up traveling many places across the United States with his family where he gained an appreciation for trying new foods at different places, Kris spends most of his time at the gym where he enjoys powerlifting and running, apart from that he enjoys watching numerous food shows on TV, his all time favorites are shows such as Anthony Bourdain's The Layover and No Reservations as well as Bizarre Foods: with Andrew Zimmern.
Kris is a graduate from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Military Science, as well as commissioned through the Reserve Officer's Training Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. Where he will pursue his career at his duty station in the beautiful state of Hawaii.